Overview

The first meeting with a potential principal is called the intake meeting. In consultancy, this is a meeting in which client and consultant become acquainted, unless the consultant has worked for the client before on another assignment. In that case, after getting reacquainted, they will soon move on to the meeting s second topic of conversation: the assignment.

Students doing a fieldwork project have often already attended an acquisition meeting before the intake meeting. Since acquisition must be carried out to find a fieldwork project, such an assignment is usually obtained by an offer from the educational institution or by the actions of students themselves; a consultant is usually invited by the principal.

This difference in the acquisition procedure of a fieldwork assignment requires some attention. The objective of the intake meeting is to find out whether there is a basis for successful implementation of the assignment. The final decision on the nature of and approach to the project will only be taken in Step 5, upon completion of a thorough orientation. One should avoid making the assignment too restrained via agreements made during the acquisition and intake meetings. ^[1] Some leeway is needed to be able to determine, on the basis of the orientation, what results the project should aim to achieve, and in what way and under what conditions these results can be achieved. In this way, wants and possibilities can be better geared to each other and disappointments can be...